You’re young, in the single digits. You have a phone in your hands and friends surrounding you, egging you on.

Quickly, you punch in three numbers and wait nervously for someone on the other end to pick up. Then the voice comes on: “911, what’s your emergency?” and you hang up, immediately, as your friends laugh and rib you for not being able to hold the conversation longer.

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Kids “prank” calling 911 is nothing new, despite stern lectures from parents. Most kids who dial the trio of digits do so out of boredom or peer pressure, but one young fellow recently did it out of loneliness.

The 6-year-old from Tallahassee, Florida, called 911 to tell someone that he was lonely and that his mom was mean and made him cry, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

Thankfully a good-natured cop, Officer Joe White, was willing to take on the case, and after getting the boy’s info he headed out to pay him a visit.

Clearly misunderstanding the purpose of the emergency number, the boy called several more times to ensure that White was really on his way.

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This could have gone one of two ways. The officer could’ve scared him straight (which might have worked on an older, more headstrong individual), but he instead took a much gentler, friendlier approach that has made all the difference.

“From our Patrol Bureau: Sometimes we respond to a 911 call and it’s a great opportunity for something positive!” the City of Tallahassee Police Department wrote on May 7.

“Officer Joe White responded to a 911 call where a 6 year old was upset & called 911. Officer White arrived to meet the caller — a child who said he was lonely and wanted a friend. He asked Officer White if he would be his friend.”

Of course, Officer White said yes, but he also took the opportunity to enlighten the little boy on the proper place of emergency phone calls.

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“Our new friend got to sit in the police vehicle, was given a stuffed animal and now has a friend at the Tallahassee Police Department!”

“Here’s Officer Joe White & his new friend who called 911 without his mom knowing,” the department wrote in another post, along with more photos, on May 7. “We have a new friend!”

The story has gone viral, and many readers are applauding the officer’s dedication to honesty and education as well as his kind nature and willingness to help out a kid who really just needed a friend.

“Realizing he was a child, we put some extra attention to that,” Director of the Consolidated Dispatch Agency, Steve Harrelson, told the Tallahassee Democrat. “It was a great conclusion to an incident that could have been a lot worse.

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“(White) used that moment to educate the uses of 911 … It worked all the way around for everyone.”

Still, Harrelson advised parents to teach their kids about when to dial the number.

The spokesperson for the Tallahassee Police Department, Damon Miller, said this wasn’t an unusual incident — most civilians just don’t realize this is normal for cops.

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“He let the young man know that they can be his friend and how to use the 911,” he said. “This is a classic example that we are humans as well, and we are not robots.”

Liftable, a section of the Western Journal, has reached out to the Tallahassee Police Department for comment but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.

Amanda holds an MA in Rhetoric and TESOL from Cal Poly Pomona. After teaching composition and logic for several years, she's strayed into writing full-time and especially enjoys animal-related topics.

As of January 2019, Amanda has written over 1,000 stories for The Western Journal but doesn't really know how. Graduating from California State Polytechnic University with a MA in Rhetoric/Composition and TESOL, she wrote her thesis about metacognitive development and the skill transfer between reading and writing in freshman students.
She has a slew of interests that keep her busy, including trying out new recipes, enjoying nature, discussing ridiculous topics, reading, drawing, people watching, developing curriculum, and writing bios. Sometimes she has red hair, sometimes she has brown hair, sometimes she's had teal hair.
With a book on productive communication strategies in the works, Amanda is also writing and illustrating some children's books with her husband, Edward.